Chapter 364: Cicadas Silent in Winter

Downstairs at the Qingyuan City Management Company.

Li Fei and Lu Wenxing stood at the entrance of the company.

Soon, Xu Rui, You Xiaofeng, and others rushed out of the company gate quickly.

"I didn't know the Marquis of Jing'an was visiting; we failed to welcome you, and I hope the Marquis will forgive us!"

Xu Rui rushed to the front, his face full of smiles, bowing to Li Fei.

"Greetings, Marquis of Jing'an!"

The crowd behind him also bowed one after another.

Li Fei nodded and said simply: "I am entrusted by someone to come and take a look."

"It is a supreme honor!"

Xu Rui straightened up and gestured to Li Fei to enter.

Li Fei glanced at Liu Saner, who was standing in the crowd with a somewhat dejected expression, didn't say much, and walked into the company building.

A group of people clustered around him.

"Marquis, our Qingyuan City Management Company has some reputation in Xingcheng now; I wonder if there is anything we can do for the Marquis?"

Xu Rui actively came to Li Fei's side, seizing the opportunity to talk to Li Fei.

Li Fei glanced at him: "Who are you?"

Xu Rui's smile grew wider: "I am Xu Rui, Assistant Regional Commander Manager of the Qingyuan City Management Company, responsible for city management business."

"I thought you were the General Manager."

"..."

"Liu Saner."

Li Fei shouted.

Liu Saner, who had been deliberately blocked behind, woke up like a dream and responded loudly:

"I am here!"

Then he squeezed through the crowd and quickly came to Li Fei's side:

"Marquis, I am Liu Saner, General Manager of the Qingyuan City Management Company."

"Hmm, introduce it to me, after all, this is your company."

Li Fei looked at Liu Saner and said so.

This remark struck Xu Rui like lightning, and the expressions of many people present changed.

The situation seemed somewhat unfavorable; this Marquis actually looked favorably upon a small person like Liu Saner?

Liu Saner's back straightened up, and he began to introduce it to Li Fei.

The crowd started from the first floor, visiting every floor.

Liu Saner introduced to Li Fei in detail what each floor of the company was for and what positions there were, as if counting his family treasures.

Although he lacked talent, it didn't mean he wasn't attentive; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to maintain the company until now without major deviations.

Li Fei listened to Liu Saner's introduction patiently.

He just said this was 'your company', but actually, this was also his company.

He was like a lion king returning from a trip, re-inspecting his territory.

Going up to the tenth floor, the highest floor, Li Fei suddenly asked:

"Has the company encountered any problems or difficulties so far?"

This remark made the hearts of Xu Rui and the others jump.

Liu Saner turned to look at Xu Rui, intending to speak, but Xu Rui finally couldn't help but speak first:

"Marquis, actually General Manager Liu doesn't handle specific affairs; most of the things in the company are done by us. General Manager Liu might not really understand the specific problems encountered by the company; why don't I..."

Li Fei frowned slightly, so before he could finish speaking, Lu Wenxing, who had been standing quietly behind Li Fei, reached out and pressed on Xu Rui, a burst of internal energy making the other party's whole body numb, and he immediately couldn't speak:

"Did the Marquis ask you?"

Xu Rui froze in place, his face flushed red.

Li Fei didn't even look at him, still looking at Liu Saner, signaling him to continue.

Liu Saner felt secretly refreshed, pointing to the conference room where they had just held the meeting: "Marquis, please come in; we were just holding a meeting here."

Thus, Li Fei walked in.

He sat directly in the main seat in the middle, and Lu Wenxing sat beside him.

"Liu Saner, Xiang Du, you two sit down too."

Li Fei greeted the two to sit down.

Xiang Du was somewhat surprised; he didn't expect Li Fei to still remember him.

Back then, Li Fei went to the Qingyuan Boxing Village to find Shangguan Xiao to practice martial arts, and Xiang Du had seen him many times.

He hadn't expected that in the blink of an eye, the green teenager back then had become a big shot far more powerful than the Great Leader!

"Thank you, Marquis."

Xiang Du bowed and sat down with Liu Saner.

As for the rest, Li Fei didn't let them sit, so they didn't dare to sit, and could only stand.

Li Fei noticed the documents on the table and picked them up to read.

After reading, he looked at Liu Saner: "Are these the problems the company is currently encountering?"

Liu Saner nodded: "Yes, there have been many violations recently."

"Are they all on here?"

"Basically all on here."

"Are you sure they are true?"

"Marquis, I am willing to guarantee with my life that what is written here is true!"

"Hmm."

Li Fei nodded, "Since they have all been investigated, and there are still problems, why not just handle them according to the rules?"

Liu Saner looked at him cautiously: "But some people in the company don't agree."

"Who doesn't agree?"

"..."

Liu Saner didn't speak.

Li Fei looked up at Xu Rui and the others standing there, raising the document in his hand:

"I will ask one more time, who disagrees?"

"..."

After a brief silence, You Xiaofeng bit the bullet and stepped forward, bowing to Li Fei:

"Marquis, I am You Xiaofeng, the Deputy Minister of the company's Martial Security Department. General Manager Liu San... he does not understand the company's specific operations. Many people on this list are the company's backbone; Qingyuan Company could not have reached its current scale without these people's hard work. They are very important to the company; we cannot just listen to General Manager Liu's one-sided words and deal with these people."

Li Fei looked at You Xiaofeng; although his gaze was calm, it made this internal-strength martial artist feel a pressure as heavy as a mountain!

His back was instantly soaked with sweat, and he trembled with fear.

"It seems you are the one who disagrees."

"..."

"What was his background before?"

Li Fei asked Liu Saner.

Liu Saner looked at You Xiaofeng: "He used to be a member of the Tiger Blade Gang, and many people on this list were his subordinates."

"Including the ones who raped women and sold opium?"

"Yes."

"Marquis!"

You Xiaofeng became anxious upon hearing this and was about to defend himself.

"Kill him."

Li Fei said casually.

Boom!!

The air in the room vibrated violently, and Lu Wenxing, who had been sitting quietly in his seat, suddenly moved.

He stood up and reached out to grab You Xiaofeng.

You Xiaofeng was also a battle-hardened martial artist, but facing this simple movement, he could not dodge, nor did he have the strength to resist.

His neck was grabbed by Lu Wenxing with one hand, and his protective internal strength was shattered the moment it surged to the surface of his body.

Hum! Hum! Hum!

Everyone present heard three consecutive muffled sounds.

They saw Lu Wenxing grab You Xiaofeng's neck and shake it three times, then release his hand and calmly return to his seat.

You Xiaofeng's eyes were wide with rage, his body tilted backward and collapsed to the ground; his chest was visibly caved in, and he had already lost his breath!

For Lu Wenxing, a Foundation Establishment stage expert with 5th-tier combat power, killing an internal-strength martial artist did not require a second move.

"..."

Everyone in the room, including Liu Saner, was terrified, staring blankly at You Xiaofeng, who had collapsed on the ground and stopped breathing.

Especially Xu Rui, whose face was deathly pale and filled with disbelief.

You Xiaofeng was one of the top experts in the Qingyuan City Management Company and an extremely important combat asset.

He had actually died just like that?!

He did not understand why Li Fei valued Liu Saner so much, nor did he understand why Li Fei handled things this way.

Wasn't an internal-strength martial artist more valuable than a piece of trash like Liu Saner?

"Xiang Du."

Li Fei suddenly looked at Xiang Du.

Xiang Du was startled and quickly said: "What are your orders, Marquis?"

Li Fei pointed to the document in his hand: "Take this person's head and go deal with everyone on this list. Those who should be fired, fire them; those who should be killed, kill them. Can you do it?"

Xiang Du was stunned, but quickly reacted, stood up, and saluted Li Fei:

"Rest assured, Marquis, I can do it!"

"Do you need me to send you some men?"

"No need."

"Good, go."

"Yes!"

Xiang Du revealed a ferocious smile, strode to You Xiaofeng's corpse, and with a wave of his hand, severed the man's head.

Then, holding the head in one hand and the list in the other, he walked out of the conference room, radiating killing intent.

Inside the conference room, it was deathly silent!

Blood spread across the floor, and a bone-chilling stench of blood permeated the air.

"Liu Saner, stay behind; everyone else, get out."

Li Fei said.

Everyone present felt relieved and quickly left.

Finally, only Li Fei and Liu Saner remained in the conference room.

"Liu Saner, do you know why I helped you today?"

Li Fei looked at Liu Saner and asked.

Liu Saner answered cautiously: "Because of the Ghost King?"

"That is one reason, but not the most important one."

"Because I am obedient enough?"

"Because you have always strictly followed the rules set by the Green-Faced Ghost. Neither the Green-Faced Ghost nor I need you to have exceptional talent; what Qingyuan City Management Company needs is a General Manager who can always hold the line."

Li Fei said earnestly.

In fact, if he had chosen to keep You Xiaofeng, the internal-strength martial artist, and chosen to tolerate the various petty tricks of Xu Rui and the others, just a little bit of discipline to ensure they didn't make mistakes in major areas would have allowed the company to develop more smoothly.

After all, whether it was Xu Rui or You Xiaofeng, they were truly talented people; for any faction, they were more valuable than Liu Saner.

But Li Fei did not choose that path.

As Ye Zhao said, establishing the Ghost-Slaying Gang and tolerating the gang members preying on the people was just to allow the gang to develop rapidly first, to be dealt with later.

That was the other party's expedient measure.

The process didn't matter; what mattered was the result.

But Li Fei would never choose such an expedient measure!

Even if it meant damaging himself, even if it meant things would be more difficult, the bottom line was the bottom line.

Those who cross the line die!

This was the rule Li Fei set for Qingyuan City Management Company.

So even though Qingyuan City Management Company and Green-Faced Villa didn't have many internal-strength martial artists to spare, Li Fei still killed You Xiaofeng without hesitation.

It was the same in Xingcheng now, and when Qingyuan City Management Company takes over the entire Jianghu of Datong Prefecture in the future, the rules will be the same!

He knew it was impossible to make everyone in the company strictly follow the rules, which is why the General Manager must be someone who can hold the line.

Over the past year or so, Liu Saner had stood the test.

Therefore, he would continue to be the General Manager.

Li Fei looked at Liu Saner: "Next, the entire Jianghu of Datong Prefecture will be ours. I want you to open Qingyuan City Management Company in every city in Datong Prefecture; whatever Xingcheng is like now, other places must be the same."

Liu Saner was stunned.

He used to be just a bottom-tier nobody, struggling to make ends meet.

Sitting in the position of General Manager of Qingyuan City Management Company was already the limit of his imagination.

He had originally thought the Green-Faced Ghost King would replace him sooner or later, but he never expected Li Fei to come today and tell him:

In the future, you will manage the entire Jianghu of Datong Prefecture!

It was truly like a dream.

"Liu Saner is willing to go through fire and water to serve the Ghost King and the Marquis! I will have no regrets even if I die nine times over!"

Liu Saner said with red eyes, moved by the sentiment of a man willing to die for one who understands him.

"I don't need you to throw your life away, just work hard."

Li Fei patted him on the shoulder and said.

(End of chapter)